The best Derek Jarman’s documentary movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Derek Jarman’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Derek Jarman.
Derek
7.2/10
Derek, in chronological order, records the work and life that stands at the foot of Derek Jarman's humour and spirit of being an artist. The filmmaker and actress, Isaac Julien and Tilda Swinton respectively, have produced and narrated a film on his life whereby the use of language is perpetuated to give some type of palpable meaning to British audiences alone, and to their own personal relationship with him.
Glitterbug
6.5/10
A collage of Derek Jarman's super 8 footage spanning over 20 years.
Orange Juice
In the early 1980s, Jarman struggled to get feature film projects off the ground and invested his energies in different fields, including music videos. In 1984 he made the promo for ‘What Presence?!’ by Scottish post-punk band Orange Juice, as fronted by Edwyn Collins. Before the official shoot, however, he visited the location and made this tape, trying out shots with a newly acquired Olympus VHS camera. The warm colours and fuzzy softness of the format, plus the decision to shoot handheld, imbue this little-known, rarely seen artefact with a palpable directness.
Derek Jarman: A Portrait
A BBC Arena profile of the Director from the time of the release of his film, The Garden, featuring interviews with Jarman, his collaborators and friends.
The Making of Sebastiane
Super 8 footage shot on location in Sardinia in 1975.
Andy the Furniture Maker
Andy, a laddish Essex boy with a knack for creating gorgeous furniture from found wood, has had a life packed with excitement. He tells a string of riveting anecdotes with his trademark cocky swagger in this fondly remembered documentary. From his work as a rent boy to a spell stealing cars to his discovery by filmmaker Derek Jarman, Andy makes for a hilariously blunt and bawdy raconteur.
21st Century Nuns
6.2/10
Brief portrait of a British wing of an order of gay male nuns.
